Back in Clarksville

Mark and I are back in Clarksville now.  After we came home from Beijing, I washed clothes and we packed up to come home to Greenville to see his dad.  We heard that the few days prior to our arrival from Beijing, his dad had really not been doing well.  So Mark decided to come home to Greenville to say what might be a last good bye.  Currently his dad receives morphine every 12 hours for his constant pain so the last two times we saw him, he was very sleepy and not coherent.

We stayed three nights at home. We visited with his parents each day and even saw all of our kids and my parents during the time home.  It was so good to have time with each of the kids and have directed conversations with them.  I feel like we connected well with each of them.

Some thoughts about all our back and forth traveling.  I feel like we have had a mini-dose of cross-cultural training this month.  A few weeks in Clarksville in a different environment than normal. Different church culture, smaller living quarters, fewer things.  Then to Beijing. Different language all around us. Walking everywhere. Riding the subway. Staying with two different families. Then back to Greenville.  Feeling like a visitor in our own home. Meeting people for meals. Packing and repacking. Living out of a suitcase.  Is this what missionaries feel like? Often on the go but never staying anywhere? In familiar surroundings with friends but not feeling a part of it? 

In the midst of our back and forth traveling, I realized I forgot to post some cool pictures of our time in Beijing. While Mark K & Mark visited with some friends Saturday night, Diane & I walked to a mall area that contains the largest digital movie screen in the world.  Beijing impressed us in many ways, one of which is the complete safety we felt at all times.  Beijing has almost no crime so       

we enjoyed taking a walk to see the night life.

"The Place"

Street side of largest digital screen in the world